The Pickup Truck Diaries: Demisexuality

Uh oh! This article has “sex” in the title! Everybody, start panicking! Scream! Run for cover! Because lo and behold anyone even attempts to have an honest conversation about their identity these days, right?! See, we just ended pride month, meaning the wide variety of Fortune 500 companies that...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Relationships And Dating.

I put this off for a while. Actually, this was likely originally going to be one of the first articles in this ongoing, sporadic series, but there were a number of things to consider.  First, how do I appropriately anonymize my experiences so that nobody gets all pissy? Secondly, how do I...

The Next Generation.

“Wrong.” Hewah flipped the young woman  effortlessly, taking the immense force of her punch and redirecting it into the mat below. She slapped to the ground with a heavy thwap that echoed off the mirrors in the dojo. “Somebody tell me what she did wrong.” Prometheus was quick to use the...

Playing With Fire.

"Lucifer." "Sol." "It's been too long." "It has." A wry joke. They had tangled recently. Absolution, A Former God of Wind. Now working for The God-Emperor of The Black Armada, as he had ever since Lamentation Day. Xex. Former member of the Prime Triumvirate. Sol had not come alone. He entered the...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: ADHD, Hyperfocus, & Auteurs.

Welcome back. This probably ain’t your first rodeo with me here on The Pickup Truck Diaries, but to be honest, I don’t have enough horseback riding experience to know much of a difference! I mean, that’s largely because I’m used to running machines several magnitudes larger in size, with no mind...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: The Most Prolific Human Poet In History.

Seems grandiose, eh? This is one of the more modest, amongst the actual titles I was able to workshop, believe me! And I’d hope by now you’ve read at least one or two of these here Pickup Truck Diaries, so you are well aware already that I love being grandiose and mock-megalomaniacal for the sake...

A Matter of Faith.

"The Third Simultaneous Juncture of A.I. Above the 5th Class is now in order, guiding our thoughts is the honorable Alfred, Level 7 A.I. From the mind of Project X-1. As this is an open forum, specific name tags will be omitted from the records and server logs." "As we have no keynote speaker, may...

The Interrogation.

"My god is not your god my god is righteous my god is passionate my god is caring my god is hunger my god is love my god is everything my god is existence my god is earth and moon and sky and stars and sun my god is God-Emperor of all The Central Universe my god is unstoppable my god will end...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Goodbyes.

Well fuck. This is part two in the: “I’m moving and processing said move through my writing.” By which I mean I’m really grappling with some pretty big issues of legacy and the saga of a family. Which isn’t exactly what I expected.  See, I always thought when I moved, I’d write this big...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Road Trips.

Aight, so this edition of The Pickup Truck Diaries comes to you fresh from the Red Deer Alberta Montana’s, because I really wanted Steak and Eggs. (Unfortunately, they only had the Steak.) Well, we got halfway there at least. And my lavishness means I’m definitely treating this trip like my own...

Puppet Games.

“They’re not things, Doctor!” “My name is Shifter, now.” An irate tone came alongside the voice, the one emanating from behind the smiling clay mask. The heavily scarred and mutilated bald white head the back strap sat upon almost glowed under the fluorescent lights. Monitors flickered an ominous...

Acquisition Log, Reassessment 6.

Hephaestus and X-1 Fabrication team, (But am CC-ing all Department Heads, obviously.) I am writing because we are finding yet another series of design flaws. While normally I'd pass the blame off onto one of your or my lackeys, this time I find it hard to find an easy target for the accusation....

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Drugs & Addiction.

DRUGS! Scared yet? Expecting me to shit on addicts with the tired old trash of being lazy, weak-willed, or lesser-than? Fuck that. We all know how much stigma there is around the topic of drugs and addiction. It deserves to be spoken to. For education first and foremost. So… Fair warning about...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Ableism and Disability

I fucking hate that I have to keep writing about this. I absolutely fucking hate it. A wise friend of mine said a while back that she detested that she always had to speak to trans issues, and prayed that one day it would just be normalized. You can say the same for racism, for sexism, and yes...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: The Logger Gurus

The Pickup Truck Diaries: The Logger Gurus How do you explain a core fundamental of your life to a world that has no possible metric for the value of that thing? What happens if you miss your opportunity to hold onto it? A question that could echo across the aeons, I expect. In this round of “The...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Gentrification and Poverty.

The Pickup Truck Diaries I didn’t know which topic I would start The Pickup truck Diaries with first. At least not right away. Hell, I’m still trying to decide if I even bother to do any actual edits on these, and just give it to you raw. Because really, how does one compile an entire lived...

Hyko & Caylee.

“Liar.” He snorted with laughter, even as she folded her arms at him with a faux glare. The cool and refreshing summer breeze wafted in through the open windows, carrying the smells of cooking meat and the bustling city. Serenity the capital city stretched across all of Sanctuary’s largest...

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Honor, Ethics, & Morals.

This new millennium sucks a whole bag of dicks. Maybe it’s me. I don’t remember my childhood fondly for many reasons, between being assessed into the ground by the system to no avail, or in running through the same cyclical patterns of trauma against my will or even my awareness or knowledge....

The Pickup Truck Diaries: Accomplishment & Pride.

Welcome back, friends. Let’s do a little exercise together, right at the start of this one. Just you and me. I want you to pause, self-reflect, remember, and consider the last time you felt proud or accomplished. Interpret the scale or scope how you wish. Could be a single thing from just today,...

The Drop.

“Battlenet is all lit up, apparently it’s pretty hairy.” “Anti-air?” “Everything. We’ve got in-atmo ships trying to flee up into orbit and it’s just piling on from there. One captain even opened a rift in-orbit in her desperation, against every protocol - risking a nuclear reaction from split...

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Books

The Marionette Man

Life just isn’t easy in Central Universe if you’re not one of the immortal gods. As the only family related to a deceased navy captain serving The Guardians of Destiny, Arthur Brass and his mother lived a relatively quiet life. At least up until the day the G.O.D.’s secret police pushed just a little too far.

Brought up on unfair charges – with his execution suddenly looming, Arthur is soon forced to make a decision that will change the rest of his life.

In Central, everyone is a pawn of the ascended, and Arthur is about to find out the terrifying truth when it comes to the types of cruel games played by those who live forever…

The Marionette Man was my second published book, after my poetry book. It has a long and sordid history of signing to some publisher, then being dropped unceremoniously years later. Thus, it was rewritten no less than 4-6 times. The original drafts were in first person perspective, which were later rewritten again and again to third person, and “deep” perspective shortly after that. It’s a good first romp if you’re looking to learn about Central Universe and enjoy a good pulpy sci fi space opera. It’s also my first “real” foray into self-publishing! (Not to mention being the most overedited book of all history!)

The Paper Moon Gang

Greasy Knuckle is known as one of the slummiest and most corrupt planets in The Neutral Territories. Home to gangsters, mafiosos, pirates, and mercs, The Paper Moon Gang is only one of many smaller outfits in their neighbourhood of Silverton. When one of their pirate contacts, the murderous Yo-Yo, reaches out with the deal of a lifetime – a cache of valuable weapons stolen from the God Resistance Army itself, it’s just too good to pass up.

These small time gangsters have no clue what’s coming next.

The Paper Moon Gang was a fun little gangster romp through Central Universe. If you enjoy both gangster and science fiction, it should be right up your lane. Sometimes the most fun you can have is at the edge of all the ruckus, out in The Neutral Territories! I’d love to revisit these characters again sometime in the future, even if only as one of my cute easter eggs.

The Alphabet Of Hope

Alphabet of Hope is an anthology of stories written by members of the LGBTQ+ community from around the world. Hope is a precious commodity for teenagers trying to understand their identity, and these authors share their own accounts of trying to understand who they are, and how the world is going to treat them once they come out. Many stories show the evolution of legal and societal acceptance of queer lives and relationships and show that we can be accepted for who we are, and will inspire people to live more open, authentic lives.

I have a short piece in this anthology about being Demisexual called: “Demi Means Half.” I hope it can become a resource for educators, families, and more. I’m very glad Trevor reached out to me to participate, and hope my piece can somehow help other grey ace spectrum folks out there.

The Butterfly King & Other Poems For Self-Reflection

The Butterfly King and Other Poems for Self Reflection rings clear with purpose – and is filled with poetry steeped in the act of self-reflection. Centered around the titular heroic epic poem, which is written entirely in rhyming couplets – the book is further broken down into several different sections with dozens of poems, including nature and society, individual self-reflection, as well as love and sexuality.

This is my book of baby McRae poems. I say that because I wrote The Butterfly King when I was 18 or so. Many of the poems in this poetry anthology are from around that era, compiled almost a decade ago now. Back then I just wanted to prove myself by besting Coleridge in an act of some silly defiance by writing a better Heroic Epic. But looking back, it’s kind of nice to have an artistic time capsule from a time before I took my decade long break from writing.

Non Fiction

The Pickup Truck Diaries

The Pickup Truck Diaries is a non-fiction article series. Each article, I take on a topic or two at a time to explore them through my unique childhood lens. All those hundreds of hours in the bush had to be worth something, right? Coming from a logging background gives some world wisdoms and insights one might not expect. Expect some fairly heavy subjects in here, as well as some personal insights you don’t see in my other work. Trigger warnings all over the place for those sensitive to the topics I’m writing about in each article. I do try to keep each article to around roughly three thousand words, unlike my fiction work. We all have things to do and places to be, right?

Dave's Itty Bitty Dilly Dally

This project is pretty personal to me. I stole the name from an old show to create a family legacy podcast, with a goal of cataloguing my 63 year old father Dave McRae’s stories. It’s a storytelling podcast, where we ADHD-style meander our way through our strange histories. I’m treating this as a personal project, meaning there is no release schedule, no consideration for audience or demographic whatsoever, and it’s obviously pretty precious to me. Each episode will have a general one or two word topic to keep us on track, and we’ll be shooting for about an hour-ish for each episode.

The folks that have been following our strange family for a time will remember Dave as one of the main roles on “Ax Men Season 8.” Thus far, we’ve only put out one Episode on Spotify, as no joke Dave is currently working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s on Animals, with maybe more to come? 

The Brewery

The Brewery was our Casual EDH format Magic: The Gathering Show. Every week, we brewed up brand new Casual EDH decks to play against each other on Cockatrice based around a singular theme. The Project is currently on indefinite hiatus as of Summer 2023 as Tobin has decided to step away from the show for more privacy.

While Season 1 has mostly been lost to the ages – aside from a few pieces of raw footage hidden somewhere on my hard drives… All 50 episodes of Season 2 are still available, decklists included. You can find them on Youtube or Twitch. Most Episodes do run about 2.5 to 4-ish hours, so they’re a slow burn – play by play with lots of friendly comedy and some jabs here and there.

The little Pomeranian used for our classic alter photoshop photoshop is cast-member Joseph’s old Pomeranian, not the new ‘lil guy Toski that features on the show at times. RIP OG ‘lil guy. I do still have a presence on Moxfield, but I’ve taken a break from Magic: The Gathering for now due to the horrendous treatment upon the publishing of my “Rainbow Bible” from the CEDH community. Put a bad taste in my mouth for the whole game, despite being a passion on and off for like 20 years.

5th Edition TTRPG Resources

McRae's 5e TTRPG Item Resource

You can tell that I wrote most of my 5e resources before I came out as Non Binary. Please ignore my first name in these resources. I just go by “McRae” now.

This first 5e resource consists of 71 wacky and intriguing Magical items, many of them cursed or with a mix of pros and cons to ensure a more engaging story for players and DMs. There are a few special nods near the end to some of the more famous Dungeon Masters in the DnD Media scene, too!

While I originally developed this as a DM, both on my various DnD shows as well as home games, I’m sure players could utilize it in conversation with their DM to tell some awesome stories. Each item is annotated with a blurb by me, revealing playtest information, fun little comedy bits, or the like. Some of these items featured on my old mothballed DnD 5e show.

Please feel free to use these 5e resources for home games, live shows, or any other projects. Just credit me if you’re making money off it, please!

McRae's 5e Character Resource

You can tell that I wrote most of my 5e resources before I came out as Non Binary. Please ignore my first name in these resources. I just go by “McRae” now.

This one was originally designed with DMs in mind, consisting of dozens upon dozens of both player characters and non player characters I’ve played across various shows and home games. The goal was to produce a quick and dirty character resource for other DMs, to reduce a lot of their prep time down in regards to populating worlds or campaigns.

Upon reflecting further in the few years since I published this – I see no reason why a player couldn’t choose one of these characters to flesh out further and play as a PC with whatever build would make sense! I’d be honored if anybody out there played anything I’ve ever method acted, to take and transform and build upon in new ways!

I do have other resources, regions, cities, dungeons, and lots for my homebrew world and region of Karnifexia and Ghastheim – Featuring in a mothballed old show. Some of them are on DM’s Guild, but the maps I mostly keep for myself. Maybe I’ll do a project that brings it all back one day.

Please feel free to use these 5e resources for home games, live shows, or any other projects. Just credit me if you’re making money off it, please!

Other Work

Publications

Trash Culture MemoirsJimi Hendrix Poem Contribution https://trashculturememoirs.tumblr.com/

Spadina Literary Review – April 2020 – https://spadinaliteraryreviewarchive.com/SR36-Ver-02.html

Cotyledon – Vancouver Youth Poetry Charity Anthologyhttps://www.vancouverpoetryhouse.com/cotyledon/

Open Minds Quarterly Spring 2020 https://www.openmindsquarterly.com/

Teachers Pay TeachersA Plethora of Education Resourceshttps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mcraewrites

On Camera & Audio

Ax Men Season 8 – Two Episode Bit Role (Self)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muUHOMhEPZs&ab_channel=HISTORY

You’re Listening To:” Music Podcast“Gorillaz – Demon Days”https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/demon-days-gorillaz/id1587941724?i=1000536900973

The Itty Bitty Dilly DallyGeneral Topic Podcasthttps://open.spotify.com/show/1LkawCf0OGGJWGQuYd6EuL?si=9dacc002dcb449d0

Something Wicked5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Homebrew Gothic Horror & Comedy Live Twitch Show + Podcast (Producer & DM) – https://open.spotify.com/show/7AvMg55V81mTO5RUb0UbU9?si=b909292f69974bb0 (I only have a couple highlight videos. Most of the show only available on Spotify as a Podcast.)

Another Bad Side Quest Podcast5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Podcast (Sassafrass)No Longer Available.

 

Magic: The Gathering Primers & Guides

“The Rainbow Bible” – (Longest Magic: The Gathering Resource Ever Written: A Record-Breaking 62,000+ Words.) Tribal Tribal & Rainbow Commander Resource + Rukarumel CEDH Primer – https://mcraewrites.com/mcraes-mtg-corner-the-rukarumel-gay-pirates-tribal-tribal-cedh-primer-aka-the-rainbow-bible/

“Siloing CEDH & EDH” – Basic “how to” to adjust power up or down in EDHhttps://mcraewrites.com/mcraes-mtg-corner-siloing-cedh-edh/

MTG “Tempo For Dummies” – The basics of tempo and some easy speed tipshttps://mcraewrites.com/mcraes-mtg-corner-tempo-for-dummies-especially-for-commander/

“Garth Loves Puss” – Garth One-Eye & Displacer Kitten Combo CEDH Primerhttps://mcraewrites.com/mcraes-mtg-corner-garth-loves-puss-a-cedh-primer/